Vapor electric apparatus.



A. KRAUS & R. D. MAILEY.

VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IuNE so. 1910.

Patented June 6, '1916.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

CHARLES A. KRAUS, 0F NEWTON HIGHLANDS, AND ROY D. MAILEY, 0F LYNN, MASSA- CHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO ARTHUR A. NOYES, TRUSTEE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHU- sETTs.

VAIOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

Patented J une 6, 1916.

Application filed .Tune 30, 1910. Serial No. 569,694.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known. that we, CHARLES A. KRAUS and Bor D. MAILEY, both citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of Newton Highlands and Lynn, 1n the counties of Middlesex andnEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Vapor Electric Apparatus, of which the following is a s iecification.

ur invention relates to the construction of vapor electric apparatus characterized by the employment of a metal container and consists of new and useful modes of containing and insulating the mercury cathode which is peculiar to such apparatus.

A typical example of vapor electr1c apparatus to which our invention is appl1- cable is the mercury arc rectifier.

The advantages to be derived from the use of a metal container, provided other essentials of construction could be conserved, have been recognized for some time, but so far as we are informed the structure and essentials to complete efficiency in a metal contained rectifier have not been so far developed as to enable metal contained rectifiers to be operated on a practical commercial scale. Among the essential structural features there is required for such an apparatus some mode of holding and insulating the mercury cathode which shall protect it against accidental short circuiting and particularly against the undesirable consequences which follow on the deposition of metallic coatings upon surfaces adjacent to the mercury cathode. It has been suggested to coat the internal lower portion ofa metal container with enamel for the purposes indicated, but vwhile an enamel lining may be found effective within restricted limits of operation, enamels do not possess as high an insulating power as is desirable or indeed essential in connection with rectification of current at high potential; enamel coatings being in their nature more or less porous and thus presenting inherent defects.

To secure the desirable high degree of insulation, we prepare a cup constructed of material which, by reason of its composition and method of manufacture, is known 'to be free from pores or other imperfections.

For this purpose, vessels or cups of porcelain, glass or fused quartzk may be employed.

l The mercury cathode cup is made of such size and proportions that it will fit into the bottom of the metal container where it may be secured by suitable means such as clips or supports welded to the interior of the metal container, by cementing to the container or by the fusion between the cup and the container wall of a low melting vitreous material. In such manner the insulation of the mercury cathode may be secured so far as concerns the passage of currents through the body of the insulating cup. But we have found it necessary in many cases to provide further for insulation with respect to the passage of electric currents from the insulating cathode cup.

It is well known that the anodes of a vapor electric apparatus, such as a rectifier container, deposit their material in the course of normal operation, and that this finely divided metallic material is deposited on the inner surfaces and adheres thereto with great tenacity. As the use of the vapor electric apparatus is prolonged, this coating of metallic substances becomes heavier and more continuous until finally the insulating power of the surfaces on which the metal is deposited becomes impaired, and this phenomenon is commonly known as spattering, in the ordinary rectiiers in which the containers are constructed entirely of insulating material, such as glass,

,surrounding the anode is exposed to spatf tering.

In order to'preserve the superficial qualities of the cathode containing cup, in spite of metallic deposits by spattering, we make the walls of the cup rentrant, or in other words, provide the cathode cup with a curtain or screen between which andthe outer walls of the cup there is an annular space so that a considerable zone of the cup surface is protected; deposits of metal being inter-l cepted by the curtain or apron. Thus the outer surfaces of the apron andthe inner surface of the outer cup will always be maintained in high insulating condition. The

' ode, and B',

the cup so curtain will not necessarily be integral with the walls of the cup, but We find it preferable to make it continuous With the Walls of the cup since in that way the extent of insulating surface is substantially increased.

y In the drawings hereto annexed, there is shown in vertical section a metal contained rectifier provided with cathode insulating devices which embody the present inventlon. In this drawing A represents the metal container of the rectifier, B the main anode, C the auxiliary anode, D the mercury cath- C, D, represent the leads for the anodes and cathodes respectively, the said leads being attached to and insulated from the container by means of the joints B2, C2, D2. The lead D is incased in a refractory insulating coating or sleeve, D3, which guards against undesirable arcing or short-circuiting. Such an insulating covering, if properly compounded, may be ad-` hesively attached to the lead, as by fusion; a vitreous composition, composed of about 60% soda glass, 28% borax, and 12% ferrie oxid, will be found suitable for this purpose. This sleeve or coating D3 covers substantially the whole of the lead D inside the container, and extends below the surface of the mercury cathode. rI`he mercury cathode D is contained in the cup E Which, for introduction into the container A, may be secured as by a holding ring I". As shown in the illustration, the outer Wall of the cup E is joined to and preferably integral with the rentrant depending curtain or apron H; the inner surface I of which is in a position to receive and entirely intercept the metallic particles spattered from the anodes B and C, the outer surface J of the curtain being spaced from the inner surface K of that the inner extent of these two last mentioned surfaces is protected against metal spattering and constitutes an insulating surface of Which the protective character is permanently preserved. Where the curtain or apron H is continuous With the cup as shown in therdrawings, the level of the mercury in the cathode D should be kept below the lower edge of the apron H.

The method of securing a cathode cup of the character above described in its position in the bottom of the metal container isl a practical detail of some importance and We prefer to unite the cathode cup With the metal'container by fusing a loW melting vitreous flux between thecathode cup and the container walls; such a lining should be continuous over the sides and bottom of the cup in order to avoid lead stresses due to eX- pansion and contraction. A suitable iuX of vitreous material for this purpose is composed of borax with soda glass and preferably also the oXid of a magnetic metal such as iron. The composition of such vitreous material forms the subject matter of an ap- Mermet plication for patent Serial No. 514,858 filed on or about the 27th -day of August, 1909.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters llatent is:

l. In a vapor electric apparatus, a closed metal container, and a cup of insulating material in the bottom of the container to hold the mercury cathode, a cathode lead extending upward from the mercury cathode through the container walls secured t0 and insulated therefrom by a hermetic insulating seal.

2. In a vapor electric apparatus, a closed metal container, anodes suspended therein, a mercury cathode and a cup to contain the latter composed of insulating material lodged in the bottom of the container.

3. In a vapor electric apparatus, a closed metal container, anodes suspended therein, a mercury cathode and a cup to contain the latter composed of insulating material lodged in the bottom of the container and secured thereto by fused vitreous material.

4. In a vapor electric apparatus, a closed metal container, anodes suspended therein, a mercury cathode and a cup to contain the latter composed of insulating material lodged in the bottom of the container, and a protective curtain to screen the cup against anode spattering.

5. In a vapor electric apparatus, a closed metal container, anodes suspended Within the container, a mercury cathode, a cathode cup in the bottom of the container composed of insulating material, and a curtain of similar material interposed between the side Walls of the cathode cup and the anodes and spaced from the side Walls of said cup.

6. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, and a vaporizable electrode Within and insulated from the casing.

7. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing having a cover, a Vaporizable electrode Within and insulated from the casing, a conductor supported by the cover and extending into the vaporizable electrode, and an insulating sheath for said conductor.

8. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, a vaporizable electrode Within and insulated from the casing, a conductor projecting from one side of the casing into the vaporizable electrode at the opposite side thereof, and an insulating sheath for said conductor.

9. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, a vaporizable electrode Within and insulated from the casing, a conductor projecting from one-side of the casing into the vaporizable electrode at the opposite side thereof, and an insulating lsheath for said conductor also projecting into the vaporizable electrode.

10. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, a vaporizable electrode Within and insulated from the casing, a conpas ductor projecting from one side of the casing into the vaporizable electrode at the opposite side thereof, and an insulator surrounding the conductor and separating it from vthe casing and also extending into the vaporizable electrode.

11. A Vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, a vaporizable electrode Within and insulated from the casing, a conductor projecting from one side of the casing into 'the vaporizable electrode at the opposite side thereof, and an insulator surrounding the conductor and separating it from the casing. t

12. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, and an insulating vessel located Within the casing and containing a vaporizable electrode.

13. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, and an insulating vessel l0- cated Within the casing and containing a vaporizable electrode, a conductor projecting from one side of the casing into the vaporizable electrode at the opposite side thereof, and an insulating sheath for the conductor.

14;. A vapor converter comprising a conducting caslng, and an insulating vessel located Within the casing and containing a vaporizable electrode, a conductor projecting from one side of the casing into the Vaporizable electrode at the opposite side thereof, and an insulating sheath for the conductor also projecting into the vaporizable electrode.

15. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, and an insulating vessel located Within the casing and containing a vaporizable electrode and having its upper edge turned inwardly to shield the Walls of the vessel from particles given off from the anode.

16. A vapor converter comprising a conducting casing, and an insulating vessel located Within the casing and containing a vaporizable electrode, a conductor projecting from one side of the casing into the vaj porizable electrode at the opposite sido thereof, and an insulator surrounding thev conductor and separating it from the casing.

Signed Ahy us at Boston, Massachusetts, this twentieth day of June, 1910.

CHARLES A. KRAUS. ROY D. MAILEY. 

